Westover Field – January 29, 1942

May 29, 2018

Westover Army Air Field – January 29, 1942

At about 3:00 p.m. on January 29, 1942, Lieutenant Thomas Charles Bittner, 21, of Trenton, New Jersey, was attempting to take off from Westover Army Air Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts, when his aircraft crashed just after becoming airborne and he was killed. The specific type of aircraft wasn’t mentioned in the press, and was described only as a “pursuit plane”.

Lieutenant Bittner was an experienced pilot, and officials speculated that the cause of the accident might have been due to heavy cross winds or swirling dust fouling the engine, or both.

Lieutenant Bitner had a twin brother Robert, who was also serving in the Air Corps. Both men obtained their pilot’s licenses at the age of 16.

It was also reported that Lt. Bittner was the first military fatality at Westover Field. He’s buried in Our Lady Of Lourdes Cemetery in Trenton, N.J.